How It's Made

he show is a documentary showing how common, everyday items (including foodstuffs like bubblegum, industrial products such as engines, musical instruments such as guitars, and sporting goods such as snowboards) are manufactured. It is filmed to simplify overdubbing in different languages. For example, the show avoids showing a narrator or host onscreen, does not often have employees of featured companies speak on camera, and keeps human interaction with the manufacturing process to a bare minimum. An off-screen narrator explains each process, often with humorous puns. Each half hour show usually has three or four main segments, with each product getting a demonstration of about five minutes; exceptions in the allotted time for more complex products. Usually, every show has at least one product with an historic background note preceding it: Showing how and where the product originated, and what people used before it.